Sunday, August 28, 2011

Neighborhood Vandals

Along the summer heat this year, I've also noticed some neighborhood kids cutting through my front yard to play in the trees behind the house. Sometimes they leave their bikes and razor scooters in my front yard. Sometimes they just walk through on the way back.

At the same time, I've also noticed a few things turn up missing from the yard. Nothing really significant. A newspaper here and there. An aquaglobe from a front garden pot. Some construction cones the City of Denton was using when they were laying a new water pipe. A few other odd and ends. All of which I usually find in the the trees when I go back through and pick up trash.

That said, it's been upticking in the last month. The neighbor put out a big living room chair for the dump and it somehow ended up back there all spray painted up with the names of these kids -- Simon, Brody and Chris. I found five empty spray paint cans amongst the water bottles and soda cans in my last cleanup walkthrough. Guessing they were marking their clubhouse with some paint they found in the parent's garage.

The chair was taken back and dumped (along with the other trash and trinkets we found) and they seemed to get the message. They went back to playing back there without bothering anybody.

But I guess they found a new can of spray paint to play with. Tonight I looked out my window and saw them marking up a tree with their names. Guess they really wanted to make sure everybody knew this was their space.

Too bad it really isn't. It's actually City of Denton land. And everybody carries a camera phone these days.

I was on the phone with Denton PD while they were leaving their mark. And took some pics while I was waiting for an officer to come out.

Turns out that as they were walking back to the trees, they were spray painting along the way. Newspapers in my front yard were tagged with bright orange dots. As was a leaf on my neighbor's bush and a water meter mark at the street corner where they live.

Showed the officer the pics and pointed them towards the houses where the kids lived. Waiting to see if this crap is going to stop.

Doesn't bother me that they've claimed an area of trees behind the house as their own. Annoys me when they graffiti it up. Ticks me off when they do the same on stuff in my yard.

(Kiddo faces have been purposely redacted for the webpost)

There are normally three kids, but only two were out tonight. Here's the taller one marking the tree with their names. . .

Trying to get away after they were called home for dinner. . .

It was nice of them to hold up the can of spray paint up for the camera. The one in blue also had orange hands from the paint. . .

Walking home. . .

The older brother came out and chastized the shorter one for being late for dinner, and for having spray paint on his hands and shirt. . .

Closeup of the tree. All three names (Simon, Brody, & Chris) were marked on it. They also painted a few lawn sprinkler adapters on a stump. . .

Walking back towards their houses was a trail orange dots. These were the newspapers in my front yard where they cut through to get to their clubhouse. . .

They also tagged a watermeter arrow in the street infront of one of their houses (I think the kid in white). (Not pictured was a bush that was also tagged in my neighbor's yard between this mark and my yard of newspapers)

All musings on this website are of my own and do not necessarily represent the thoughts of any employer, my wife, my minnions, the neighbor kids, or anybody else(It is what it is, nothing more, nothing less)